


Dog Night

by Otterly



Category: Pack Street - Fandom, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 23:53:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11241900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otterly/pseuds/Otterly
Summary: Early on in the night, Remmy finds himself dragged along for a task that involves walking a ways away from the apartment.This is something that would normally be fine, but the company that he finds himself with seems hell bent on making it otherwise.





	Dog Night

“What do you mean, you don’t know?” I ask, stretching my legs out as far as I can across the couch. I know I just woke up but I already feel like I’ve been standing too long.

“There’s a weird schedule change,” Avo explains. “Every single page I’ve checked has a different answer and the official ZBA site isn’t giving us jack shit. Probably some weird matchup that they don’t wanna give the spotlight to.”

“Huh,” I reach my arm out in the direction of the coffee mug on the table. Shocker! I can’t reach it because everything in this lobby wasn’t made for with prey in mind. I give Avo a pleading look, to which she raises an eyebrow.

“Not in my job description.”

“Come on! Seriously?”

“It’s a respect thing, marshmallow. Know your place and all. Unless you don’t respect me?”

“I seriously think you’re just using pack structure to be an asshole.”

“Maybe! But it’s okay because I’m right.”

I groan and sit up, taking my mug off the table for a quick sip or two before putting it back down. “Being Omega sucks.”

“Don’t you find it weird how you’re always waking up on the wrong side of the pillow, when you basically _are_ one?” Avo wonders aloud. She — effortlessly — grabs her mug without moving any muscles except her arm ones, mirroring me as she slurps loudly at her coffee. With a contented sigh, she puts it back down and looks at me. “But yeah, it kind of does. But look at it this way: if you weren’t Omega, I still wouldn’t care.”

“That’s good to know,” I say. And I mean it! Avo not being the bane of my existence would be weird, in a way. I wouldn’t like it. A thought comes to mind. “What if I was the Beta?”

“Yeah and what if I was a fucking elephant?”

“No, seriously!”

She gives the TV a glance, definitely intending to use it as an excuse, but it’s still on commercial. Avo moans. “Then yeah. I’d have to defer to you. You’d never get there, though. It’s as much a meritocracy as is it an aristocracy. What would a tiny little scrap of thrift store pillow stuffing have to offer an entire pack?”

I’m about to ask her the same question, as all I see from where I’m sitting is an asshole that’s addicted to candy, but Al walks briskly down the stairs.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Avo calls.

“Been up for two hours,” he informs.

“Where are you going?”

“Out. We got a job to do,” His expression goes wide when he pats his pockets. “Right. Uh, one of you. Come with me. My wallet’s with V.”

Avo gives me a wink, prompting me to sigh. “I’ll go. Where are we going?”

“Away. Anneke needs medicine. There’s a pharmacy — you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

A giraffe appears on the TV screen, along with a headline reading “ZBA Game Delayed due to Technical Difficulties”.

I give Al a shrug. “Got nothing better to do.”

 

* * *

 

The sidewalk’s really cold under my hooves for some reason. Not the greatest feeling. About as nice as growing my wool out during a heat wave — speaking of, I should probably get to shearing soon. Don’t want Betty paying me another surprise visit in the middle of the afternoon.

“I said you didn’t have to come,” he grumbles.

He did. He did say that. “Right. I know! And I want to! I want to come. Doesn’t matter where we have to go! Just, having a kind of clear goalpost might help me out a little.”

“I’m honestly not too sure myself. Kind of playing by ear right now.”

“I mean, from the way you talked about it I kinda got the impression that it was far and—“

“Playing by ear,” he repeats. After a moment he clears his throat and turns back to give me a nod that I think is supposed to be reassuring. ”Car’s in the shop if that’s what you were asking.”

“Oh. That’s fine.”

“I know it is.”

I’m lagging behind. Which should be okay, right? Completely normal. My legs are shorter than my companion’s after all. Hurrying my stride, I catch up to the great white wolf. He lumbers through the cold night air, stoic and with a sense of duty and purpose. It’s great for Annie, but not for my scrawny legs.

“Hey,” I pant. “You think we could slow down a little?”

He raises an eyebrow at me. Not in the menacing way — though if this were a few months ago I would have probably thought otherwise — but as if I have something stuck in my teeth.

 I run my tongue over my pearly whites, looking for any stray lettuce or grass in them as he responds to my desperate plea. “We’re barely a block away from the apartment.”

“Really? Coulda sworn that—“ A glance behind us shuts me right up. He’s absolutely correct. Barely a block away from home and I already feel like I’ve walked two miles. Or three. Geez, have I let myself go or something? I know I’m not the most physically fit, but that’s a whole new low for me.

“Sheep,” Al interrupts my breakdown. “You alright?”

“Sure,” I tell him, at a loss for any other words. “Just thinking that I might need to spend more time at Packer’s or something. I dunno. I’m not usually like this, I swear!”

He looks at me and laughs; a growly, low rumble that’s filled to the brim with amusement. “Don’t let it get to you, grazer. Anyone’s gonna be feeling a little sluggish after getting dragged into the cold before their second cup of coffee. Even though I didn’t drag you.”

Sure. Anyone would feel like this. Anyone that wasn’t built like a damn construction vehicle.

Yikes. That was mean. Sorry, Al.

Honestly he’s really chilled out (or maybe I’m the one that’s chilled out) since our little speed bump a while back. I still think that the guy can be terrifying, sure, but the idea of his ire being fixed onto me is almost a weird thought. So long as I don’t fuck up with anything, I’ll be fine.

I guess that’s always been a kind of hard thing for me to not do.

Really, I’m glad that he’s my company for tonight! Makes me feel relaxed. Safe, if that’s not a weird thing to feel. Not that I was in any danger previously. It's just that I’ve been awake for barely an hour and anyone else might just drive me insane.

“Alright,” I nod at him. “Let’s make our way downtown, then.”

“We’re not going downtown, Remmy. We’re…we’re not going downtown. Don’t worry, though. I wasn’t planning on getting us lost. Charlie’s gonna help us get there.”

“What? Charlie’s coming?”

“You two need a navigator,” Charlie explains, right beside me all of a sudden. I bleat in alarm, stumbling over and almost tripping before catching myself. “You also need a plan b, but most likely that won’t be the case. Also because our boxes of soda have finally run their course…but I’m mostly here for security. If you will. ”

“I won’t!” I nearly yell. “You think you could warn a guy next time you sneak up on him?”

The vixen tilts her head. “I’ve been here for a minute and a half. I thought you knew.”

I place a hoof on my throbbing heart. Deep breaths, Remmy. Your heart won’t beat nearly as fast if you just calmed down. Charlie’s being Charlie. Nothing to be worried about. Probably. You know, I should really get some kind of meds for this kind of thing. Or at least check my blood pressure.

“Where’s the place?” Al asks, ignoring my pseudo heart attack.

Charlie reaches into her pocket and pulls out a tiny, wallet sized piece paper that she unfolds into a full map of Zootopia. After burying her nose in it for a minute, she looks up at the wolf. “Shouldn’t be more than two miles. Maybe a mile if we get lucky. We may have to take a few detours; several roads are currently being redone and they might add more than a few minutes to our journey.”

He sighs. “Let’s get going, then.”

The two strut off without me as I stand and observe. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen Charlie and Al interact one on one before. It’s a little off putting, actually. They’re just…I don’t know. It’s like I’m an intern spying on a business meeting I wasn’t invited to.

“You coming, Cormo?” Al calls over his shoulder. They’re already twenty feet away.

“Yeah!” I call back, and catch up to them before he can make some kind of a crack about my cardio.

A few streets later and we come across our first road block. The place is absent of beavers, but the cement is still wet on the sidewalks and the tar’s still pretty fresh. We could take the risk, but I don’t think any of us want to. What’s a few more minutes, anyway?

I’m about to suggest our next move when Al and Charlie simply nod at each other and wordlessly start walking towards the next street.

Thanks, guys. Really glad I came along.

No, that’s not fair. I didn’t come to have a good time. I came for Anneke.

Plus, I also ran out of soda.

The scenery isn’t too bad, at least. The streets are empty. The night is still young and the stars are just beginning to shine. Preds around here are barely out of their beds but here we are. Trekking out to what’s probably some shady Woolgreens franchise that only stays afloat because they get mammals like Charlie to help stock their shelves.

Actually, that has me thinking.

“Isn’t this bedtime for you?” I ask the vixen next to me. She doesn’t seem too tired, but that might be because _I’m_ tired and I’m not good at reading people within two hours after I wake up. 

“I’ve been staying up later as of late,” she replies. “Marty seems to be having night terrors. Screaming late into the early hours of the morning, aimless and relatively loud and for a very long time.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I didn’t know that,” Al jumps back into the conversation. “Since when?”

“Recently,” Charlie says, but with a completely different tone that she answered me with.

Al seems like he’s standing straighter, and his neutral face sinks into a slight frown. For a moment it he looks like he’s about to say something — but he stops walking before he does. Almost in unison with him, we stop too — something’s up. I’m about to ask what when I feel something hit my nose. Something small, and wet. Soon enough I’m feeling a tiny splatter of drops on my face every five seconds.

Oh god.

I turn to Charlie in alarm. “There weren’t supposed to be any rainstorms, were there?”

Man it’s really getting faster and harder I need to find somewhere dry _fast_.

“No,” her paws roam around her pants, patting the pockets and creases like there might be an answer hidden in there. “But this is just a summer drizzle. It shouldn’t impede our goals by any amount so long as we focus on achieving them in the most efficient manner.”

“We’ll be fine,” Al summarizes.

He walks forward, and we follow, Charlie moving a little faster so she catches up with Al.

“ _I_ won’t be fine!”

“Suck it up, Cormo, we got a job to do.”

The rain starts to pick up as we travel down the street, building from stray droplets to something more but not so much as to be overwhelming. Charlie’s description was spot on. We’re in the perfect example of a drizzle, and it’s annoying for my wool in the long run but — I gotta admit — pretty bearable for now.

 

* * *

 

Not long before the weather proves me wrong. We’re wet. Really wet and on the way to miserable. At least, I am. I don’t know how Charlie and Al can last like this. I stare at them in envy, only to notice that they aren’t actually walking next to each other. Perspective’s just doing a weird thing.

Charlie’s a little bit in front of Al, at that distance that makes it really awkward for either of them to talk or look at each other. He doesn’t seem to mind, though. He keeps trudging through the drizzle, maintaining same sense of duty that he had in his eyes earlier.

Weird. What’s weirder is all this water in my wool. That’s the weirdest part of it all.

I _need_ to get out of the rain or I’m going to end up gross and disgusting. Every second I spend here is like, another hour that’s added to the ridiculous amount of time it’s gonna take me to dry off. I have to leave. I _have_ to.

And then we come across gold. A shimmering diamond in the middle of sewage and trash. I stop abruptly, heart fluttering in my chest, face turning red with all the blood rushing to it. Sitting in this extremely obscure neighbourhood is a fairly large mom-and-pop convenience store. And it’s probably got umbrellas! Who wouldn’t stock umbrellas in their store? Fuck, I’ll settle for a poncho if that’s what’s gonna keep me from turning into an angry kitchen sponge in a vat of dishwater.

“Hey, Al? Can we stop here? I just wanna get some gum or something.”

His tails swishes, splattering droplets over my face. “Make it quick, Cormo.”

“Al, Anneke needs us,” Charlie argues, looking at me like I’m wasting time being whiny or something. “I’m sure that Remmy will be fine without an umbrella.”

“He’s been whimpering the entire time we’ve been outside. Let the guy go in and save his well being. Probably a sheep thing, why he’s being such a ewe about getting wet. Ain’t I right?”

“Kind of,” Yes of course it is do you know how long it takes me to get back to normal after this kind of shit? “Look, I’ll be quick. We’ll be off on our journey in a flash.”

Really. It’s weird to me that they don’t realize how wool and water don’t mix, but I then remember what they are and I stop blaming them.

But still! There’s a whole market of products dedicated to helping sheep and alpaca and the like dry faster. Unfortunately, none of it actually works. But we still buy the products. If an infomercial tells me that there’s even a small chance of those overpriced fur dryers working better than a normal one, and I have some money to toss around, I’ll gladly do so.

A wombat greets me as I enter the store. We exchange pleasantries, and then he points me to a depressingly empty section of the store stocked with a single umbrella. Horse to hippo sized. I guess I shouldn’t have counted on my luck taking me too far.

The thing looks like I could use it as a sleeping bag in a pinch, and I have to hold it with two hooves or else it just flops to one side. Stupid scrawny noodle arms.

When I get out Al and Charlie are both soaked to hell. The classic scent of wet dog hangs heavily in the air. I flash them a proud smile as I heft my umbrella over my shoulders.

“Nice,” Al comments, eyeing the umbrella. “Didn’t realize you were going camping soon but congrats on the tent purchase.”

Joke’s on him. I pat my umbrella. I’m not gonna be completely dry but I sure as hell won’t—

As soon as I lift up and open it, a small gust of wind blows my way and it works with the umbrella to hurl me into the ground five feet away.

“Yikes. You alright?” There’s a tiny layer of worry in Al’s voice that I appreciate, but mostly I hear him trying to hide a laugh.

“He’s still conscious.”

“How would you know that?” I ask as I stumble onto my feet, dragging my giant umbrella behind me.

“Here,” Al strides over and take it from me. “This actually isn’t too bad of an idea. Nice and big. It wouldn’t do us any good to be going off and getting sick out in this weather. Charlie. Come.”

“I’m fine,” she assures him matter of factly.

“It’s picking up, Charlie. Come on. You were wrong,” Her movement towards the street is halted instantly by Al’s voice. “Wrong about the rainfall’s intensity, earlier. Now _come on._ ”

Whoa. The hell happened when I was in that store? Charlie stands where she is for a second. For a moment I’m worried that she might not listen.

I don’t know what would even happen if that was the case. Would Al have to show her who’s boss? Bite her or something?

Kill her?

No. Of course not.

No.

She hobbles over to us and stands by my side while Al opens the umbrella. He holds it above us for a few seconds, letting the rain pelt its surface before we continue on.

A few minutes and Charlie mentions that we’re nearly there, thank god. There’s something in the air now. It hangs heavy and it’s not the smell of wet dog. Whatever it is, I don’t know if I want to know. It doesn’t seem like something you can solve. Something that I can solve, at least.

Given a few years, maybe I could, but right now probably not.

At first I think that the sun’s rising and we spent the entire night walking, but it’s just the red light streaming off the Woolgreens sign. I was right! A shady Woolgreens open during nocturnal times, stocked completely by career thieves.

“So how are we gonna get the meds?” I ask Charlie, who’s been silent apart from the little aside telling us that we were nearby.

She shrugs at me.

“With money,” Al imposes, rejecting a suggestion that neither of us actually voiced. He lines us up against a wall and shoves the umbrella into my hooves. “Stay here.”

The wolf glares at Charlie unabashed before backing into the store, keeping his commanding eyes on us but mostly the vixen at my side.

Okay. I have to know lest I say something that makes it worse. I wait until Al’s out of view before I ask. “Is there something going on?”

“No.”

Rain spatters aggressively on the pavement. “Really?”

“Yes.”

“Because—“

The automatic doors open. Al comes through slouching, fist clenched but not gripping a paper bag stamped with a sticker of a bunch of medical info. He doesn’t speak for a sec, massaging his temples, getting some kind of frustration out without the need to tear something to shreds. “Nothing here, against all odds.”

“What?” I look past him, into the glass doors and at the empty pharmacy. “Seriously? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Come on. There’s another one of these nearby, am I right?”

No one answers. I have a feeling that no one wants to go anywhere else in the rain, but maybe that’s just me. “You’re absolutely sure? Maybe I should go in and check.”

“There’s another pharmacy nearby but it’ll be another half mile,” Charlie says. “We do have an obvious solution to this, of course.”

“Yes, grazer, I’m fuckin’ sure,” Al groans. “Charlie — god, we’re not gonna—“

“Yeah, doesn’t Charlie know whoever works there?”

“We’ll save an inordinate amount of time if we do as planned.”

“Nothing’s planned, Charlie, and we don’t know anyone there,” He directs his attention to me. “The hell’re you talking about?”

I tilt my head. “But wasn’t this—“

“If you just—“

“ _No!_ We’re not doing shit— _Fuck!_ ” he snaps his jaws in our faces, nearly closing around my neck. We stumble back, and he wrenches the umbrella out of my hands. “There’s another pharmacy nearby. Am I right or am I wrong? Goddamn deviant sacks of nothing, the both of you.”

My eyes are wide and I’m pretty sure that I’m about to piss myself. Holy shit.

Charlie stays quiet for a few seconds. “You’re right.”

“Then let’s fucking pick up the pace,” he orders us. We follow obediently, staying at his side like scolded kids as he holds the umbrella above us again. Each step he takes, we take with him. Soon the Woolgreens is far enough away that going back seems like it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

 

* * *

 

I’m shivering. It’s a double whammy of some healthy fear and some unreasonable fear. I’m not sure which category the fear of getting wet falls into, but I think I have a good idea of whether or not the fear of getting my neck wrung by giant wolf paws is irrational. Al angry is unnerving from a distance, but when it’s directed at you — or near you, in this case — it’s absolutely horrifying. Makes sense why Betty’s the Beta and not, say, Wolt. Who else could actually challenge him? Or take him in a fight?

But it probably wouldn’t get that far. They aren’t brutes. This is the modern age. The most that’ll happen is some rough intimidating.

Still, though.

“We’re here,” Al announces.

I look up from my sopping wet hooves to see the identical red glow of the Woolgreens. It looks exactly the same as the one that was on…wherever street that other one was. Weird how they design it like that. The whole thing makes for an agreeable experience, I guess. You can expect the same thing every time.

The three of us stop by the doors.

Al lets out a heavy sigh. “Stay,” he grows, giving Charlie the stink eye before he walks through. I watch as he gives some of the discount bins a quick look-see, deciding against some half off chocolate a few seconds later. I watch as he disappears into the aisles towards the pharmacy.

“Charlie,” I say. But I don’t hear her response, because she’s not beside me anymore.

She’s fucking gone! I look around, gritting my teeth nervously. Why would she leave after that _obvious_ fuckin’ warning? I get being oblivious about why some things are there, like locked doors. Like, maybe she just never learned how to knock, I don’t know, but screwing around with Al?

I’m half tempted to go into the Woolgreens myself, but unlike Charlie I do what I’m told because I like being alive. So I settle, standing in the rain, wincing at every drop that strays from its projected point of impact to land on my face.

A few excruciating minutes pass before Charlie comes back.

“Where the fuck have you been?” I yell.

She scratches an itch behind her ear and taps the ground with her left foot twice. “Tried to break into the pharmacy’s back room.”

“What?”

The doors open. Out comes Al, who squints at us as soon as he sees our faces. “Where the fuck have you been?”

My hooves fly up in submission. “I didn’t go anywhere—“

“I tried to break into the pharmacy’s back room.”

“ _What?_ ” Al unknowingly repeats me.

Charlie lifts her foot up and examines the pads, looking for dirt or something. I don’t know. “I’m going to guess that they had none of the proper medicine in stock.”

“What did you take?”

They stare at each other, and suddenly I feel like I’m out of my depth. Doesn’t matter, though, because it looks like they’ve both forgotten that I’m here in the first place.

“They had none of it, did they?”

“What did you take?”

“They refused.”

“Holy shit. Look —god, I — ugh. Charlie. They didn’t ‘refuse’ shit. They just had none of it. Plain. Simple,” he punctuates the last two words by slapping his left palm with the back of his right paw. His teeth are grit and his fur’s starting to bristle despite the millimetres of rain soaked into its fibres.

“I don’t believe that.”

“Then go inside and see for yourself!” he yells. “There’re too many people in Zootopia. Way too fuckin’ many, so when flu season and strep throat come around and cause an epidemic—“

“Your logic isn’t flawed. It’s just bringing you to the wrong conclusion.”

Is that what this is about? From the way that Charlie's talking about it I know that she's serious, but why would there be any reason for them to lie?

“Is there another pharmacy?”

“We have an obvious solution that I haven’t taken out of respect for the Alpha.”

“How far away is the other pharmacy?”

“Distract the clerks—“

“Is there another pharmacy, Charlie? ‘Respect.’ You call this shit—“

“The camera set-up is rudimentary.”

“We’re not stealing and is there another pharmacy, Charlie?”

“Anneke needs us. Needs the pack.”

“Needs us to not get arrested,” he turns to me. “Do you have your phone?”

“Uh— wait. Uh…” I pat my pockets and find nothing. It wouldn’t matter anyway, since I’m all out of data for this month and Woolgreens has really shit wi-fi. “No. Must have left it back at the lobby.”

“It’s a simple plan. I—“

“Fuck, Charlie! Where is the closest pharmacy? I’ll walk there myself!”

“Why?”

“Is there another pharmacy I swear to god—“

“It’s raining.”

“We aren’t fucking _thieves!_ ” Al roars. “Despite that the majority of them say we are. We don’t do crimes. Not all of us. Most of us are decent mammals. Most of us contribute to society despite the shitty fuckin’ place it keeps us in and it’s _fine_ how you make your money. I’m not saying that you’re trash. We’re just not gonna go and steal from a fucking _pharmacy_ so _give me the other one._ ”

“An hour away, by way of walking,” Charlie says, a hint of a sneer underneath her neutral expression, sky blue eyes beginning to peek through her squint. “Accounting for the rain? Two hours. Four hours on foot, there and back home. Your van doesn’t leave the shop until next week. Is that right? Your permission would allow me to retrieve the medicine in less than ten—no, seven. Seven minutes plus the forty-five it took coming here gives us fifty-two minutes until we can help a member of the pack with her illness, with which she has spent over four days in silent pain at her own stubborn insistence. Her immune system is not equipped to fight strep throat. At this point, it will get worse without antibiotics and we both know that you can’t afford any hospital bills right now due to the aforementioned car repair.”

My heart is really close to leaving my body. I'm frozen still. I can only turn my head in the slightest direction of either one of them. If I thought I was terrified earlier, I'm  _way_ fuckin' beyond that right now. It's too early for this. Too early for me.  _Why_ did I have to volunteer?

A low, throaty grumble rises from within Al’s throat. He takes a step forward, and when I step back in response I remember that I’m here too. And that I can speak. But the only problem is that I completely agree with Al right now so how am I gonna save Charlie from whatever — wait, she might have a point.

I clear my throat and start talking as soon as I feel their eyes on me. “Can I go in?”

“What?” asks Al. “No? I just went in. Did you not hear me?”

“J-Just let me try, okay?” My hooves are quivering, but there’s a key point that they’re not thinking of. “Just relax, alright?”

“You got a lot of nerve, Omega,” he exhales sharply. His eyes flit back and forth between me and Charlie before he hands me the prescription. “Fine. You get five minutes and then you’ll go home. Both of you. And then I’ll go and get the stuff.”

I smile a bit too wide. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Just hurry up. The rain’s letting up but it’s not gone yet.”

The electric whir of the doors sliding open is like a lightbulb going off above my head. You know, I didn’t have much of an idea what I was doing when I came in here, but now that I’ve seen the employees it kind of makes sense. 

A skinny goat dressed in a white coat twice her size mans the front of the pharmacy. As I approach, I come to a very reasonable conclusion.

There’s medicine here, and I'm a genius.

“Hi,” the goat greets me once we’re relatively close to each other. “Can I help you with something?”

“Yeah. I’m uh — I’m looking to pick up some antibiotics for my — for my friend,” I stutter, fishing out the prescription from my pocket and handing it to her.

“Of course!” she chirps back. She starts to head to the back but stops halfway through her turn to leer at me. She lean in towards me. “Hey…”

“Uh, Yes?”

She can’t know. She couldn’t.

“You know, most of the time I wouldn’t mention it but you seem like a nice guy…”

Shit. I’ve been caught and we won’t be able to get the meds and Al’s gonna kick Charlie out of the building or kill her—

“You’re really wet. Want a towel or something?”

Oh.

I shake my head. “I’m good, thanks.”

“Alright,” the pharmacist giggles. “You know, you’re lucky that you came by at this time of night. The place is barely busy. I _do_ get a bunch of bad mammals trying to trick me with fake prescriptions, though. Barely even bother selling anymore — who knows what kind of weird stuff they’re making with plain old medicine? But you seem like a really stand up citizen. No problems at all with you.”

“Oh. Um. Nope. Didn’t see anyone. Must have slipped past me or something — heh.”

“Yeah. The residents around here are pretty sneaky. Not like the meadows or anything,” she says before smiling at me. “You don’t see too much nocturnal prey around here, it’s _really_ nice to see someone like you coming around.”

“Y-Yeah.”

“Alright, well, I’ll go get your prescription,” she winks and leaves.

A minute later, she’s back with a pill bottle in hoof. I pay and take it gratefully.

When I get back outside Al and Charlie are standing six feet apart and stock silent, but as soon as they see the bag in my hands they light up. Immediately they’re both at my side examining the medicine like there’s a chance it’s not real or something.

“Al,” I begin. “Sorry, but—“

“Can you drive?”

“What? Isn’t your car in the shop?”

“Not you,” he says to me, tilting his head and locking eyes with the vixen at my side. “Can you still drive, Charlie?”

She doesn’t say anything for a second. And then: “You don’t need to do this.”

“I want to. You have your van privileges back. Don’t make me take them away again.”

A thin smile grows on her face. “No promises.”

The thing that hung heavy in the air is gone. There no longer. Or so I think before Charlie stops smiling, walks to Al, takes his paw and points her schnoz at the stars while wrapping it around her exposed neck.

What the _fuck_ is he gonna strangle her after everything I did? Was the van a metaphor or some shit? I stare at them, wide eyed and unsure of just what in the world to do — if there’s anything I _can_ do. Is this a part of pack ritual? Is there where all the missing foxes go every year? They just disobey their pack leaders and let themselves get strangled as some kind of twisted apology?

Al’s paw stays grasping her throat for much longer than I’m comfortable with. When I look over to him it almost looks like he’s considering it, but then he lets go. His fingers trail across Charlie’s neck and stroke the side it once, almost affectionately. She lets out a purr that I’m not sure I actually heard due to the rain falling outside the shade.

“Let’s go home,” he suggests.

I fetch the umbrella (he threw it to the ground at some point) and hand it to him with a smirk. “Not bad for a woolly Omega, right?”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” he warns. “But yeah. Thank you, Cormo. You’re not as frail as you look. Not afraid to prove me wrong. I like that.”

“Your status as a prey animal has been completely overlooked,” Charlie pops out from beside Al as he lifts the umbrella up. “I think it could come into use at a later point in time.”

“Save that shit for later, Charlie,” Al says. “Time to get Anneke her stuff.”

 

* * *

 

“Whoa, thanks!” Wolt cheers gleefully. He’s in half of a halloween nurse outfit: a fluffy, laced apron with hearts and a giant red cross on the front is draped over his beater and sweatpants, and a matching hat sits on top of his head. There’s honey matting the fur on his fingers which he tries to lick off every few seconds — honeyed tea and some soup seems to be the twins’ illness comfort food, judging from the empty bowls and mug I see resting by the other aardwolf slumbering on the couch. “You guys are life savers.”

“No problem,” Al gives their apartment a once over. “You sure you don’t need help cleaning? I don’t want ants in here and you got your hands full with your sister.”

“Nah, we’re good. You probably got a lot on your plate,” he politely waves him off and turns to me. “I’ll get mister cloud over there to help out if I need anything.”

“He was the reason we were able to get the meds so quick, actually,” the wolf says, almost gratefully. I say almost because it’s weird to see Al grateful to me and I don’t want to say that he really is just yet. “Fuckin’ assholes over at Woolgreens, I tell you.”

“Oh?” Wolter perks up and smirks my way. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” I say. “You gonna come down with us and watch the game?”

“Nah. Not gonna leave Anna for a few days. Plus, this nurse outfit’s really fuckin’ sweet, isn’t it? I don’t wanna take it off but Avo’d definitely snap a few pics.”

“Fair enough. Hey, how sick is Annie, exactly?”

“She’s been better, but the symptoms should fuck off by like, next week or the week after that. Why?”

Because some of us have been acting like she had cancer or something life threatening. Holy shit. Where were Al and Charlie when _I_ got sick that one time?

Actually…nevermind.

I shrug. “Just wondering. See you later, Wolt.”

“Tell Charlie I said thanks!”

“Will do.”

Me and Al walk down the stairs to find Charlie and Avo engrossed in some kind of discussion that stops as soon as they see me.

“Hey there, fluffball. Find something useful about yourself?”

I blink. Have I? You know… “Something like that. Maybe. I don’t know.”

“When’s the game?” Al asks, flopping down into the center of the couch.

“Now,” Charlie replies. “Frostbites versus the Thunderbolts, if I remember correctly.”

“You are,” he assures her. “Should be a good game.”

Avo pats the space beside her, grinning at me as I take my place at the end of the line. She swirls a sucker round her lips as the commercials play, but as soon as the casters come on she takes it out. “Five bucks on the Frostbites.”

“Can’t be,” Al raises an eyebrow at her. “You crazy?”

“Wanna put your money where your mouth is?”

“Sure, why not.”

“The smart bet is for the Thunderbolts,” Charlie says.

Al chuckles. “Then I’ll raise the stakes to twenty.”

“You’re on,” Avo shakes his hand before turning to me. “Wanna get in on this, Remmy?”

Despite the fact that I was already smiling, my mouth finds a way to smile more. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”


End file.
